This week was loco in every sense of the word. So, as you know, we had a wedding planned for Monday night. However, we were having trouble in finding someone to sign some medical papers for them. Here's a dramatic story of how it happened with basic details:
We had one doctor that has done it for missionaries in the past, but after telling us he'd be home in time last Friday night and going MIA for a few days without answering our phone calls, we found out that he extended a trip he was on to last another week. So, we were left without any idea on what to do. I called every type of doctor that I could possibly imagine and asked everyone I knew, but we couldn't find anyone to do it. I literally cumulatively spent hours calling people trying to find someone to do it. We got to church on Sunday and the bishopric asked if we should announce the wedding. There's a great story in Joshua 3 that not many people know about where God divides the Jordan river for Joshua like he did the Red Sea for Moses, but He didn't divide it for them until all the priests holding the ark were ankle deep in the water. Well, that's the kind of faith that I think we all need to have. So I told them to announce it without having any idea whatsoever about how we were going to get those medical certificates signed. We didn't even tell William and Rosa about that problem. Well, I'll be honest: as I sat there during sacrament meeting, the thought occurred to me that the wedding might not happen. Not because I had a lack of faith, but more because I thought that maybe the Lord wanted to try everyone's faith a bit and do it later. But if it was going to get postponed, it wasn't going to be because I threw in the towel. So I kept looking. For lunch we ate with a member and I randomly asked if she knew of a doctor that could get it done. She said that her neighbor could do it! She called him and set up an appointment for later that night. Well, when the time came, the doctor had left to do an emergency C section, and the appointment that we set up with him for 6:30 Monday morning (the day of the wedding) fell too because he forgot and went to work early. AAAH! I was in a mild panic and went back to calling people. I called Hermana Amato because I felt as if she'd maybe know somebody and you guys she gave me the reference to the doctor from Cieneguilla. I called him, but he didn't answer. So I called the clinic. (We didn't want to do it there earlier because it takes a while, they do excessive testing, and it's pretty pricey.) They didn't answer either. I felt like I should call the Cieneguilla doctor again, so I did. He answered! Well, he said he was working in Surquillo, but would be happy to do it when he got home late that night. Well, we got ourselves in a taxi and went over there to have him sign it. I almost couldn't believe it to be true when it finally got signed, and only 8 hours before the wedding too.
The wedding turned out very nicely. Their baptism is later tonight.
Well, then Jeffrey R Holland came to Lima. Holy cow, the spirit was
so strong in that meeting! We knew he meant business when one of the
first things he said when he got up was "I am not an idiot!" and started
to testify of the restoration. He really said
some things that answered stuff that I had been pondering about. I know
that he is an ordained Apostle of Jesus Christ. Then we had Elder
Gavarret from the 70 come to do a gira misional (mission tour). After that, Elder
Holland had a devotional for the recent converts. I know
it was for them, but I had a lot of takeaways too that I really liked.
This week was just one major event after another with no breathing room
in between. It was cool though. It was a really spiritual week. Take
care!
-Elder White
Friday
I was reading in Alma 1 the other day and really enjoyed my study. It came at an interesting time because right then I happened to be pondering on some things people had said against the church, which is a main theme in that chapter. I especially like verse 25. It explains how it was a hard trial for those firm in the faith since many had apostatized. But they didn't stop following God and were diligent in keeping the commandments, bearing all the persecutions with much patience. Due to that, I know that they were blessed exceedingly, and we will be too when we follow their example. God will help us to resolve our doubts. In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen. Telepizza has 3 large pizzas for s/45, so Elder Davis and I went there for lunch. It's meant for 6-8 Peruvians, but I don't think they considered the possibility of 2 huge gringos pounding it out. I went into Tottus real quick and bought this Venezuelan soda called 'Colita La Venezulana' that tasted just like red cream soda. Tasty beans. We walked back into Telepizza and sat down. I looked around and saw The Couple. I saw them, then they saw me. Then they stood up and walked out. You see, on our way home every night, they're 90% of the time making out or getting ready to, and it's always on the same doorstep, and I always invite them to church. I'm good at interrupting like that. They'll come to church Sunday. It was quite funny what happened at Telepizza. We were going to have a cita with Gloria and Jeff in the capilla, but then the youth and relief society were both having activities, so we just stuck them both in those and called it good. Mario was at the church tonight too, so we talked to him. Well, he wanted to buy a car, but to do so, he needed to include his wife's info. When they pulled up her info, it said that she was filing a divorce with him. He had no idea. It's extreemly sad to hear that, let alone to have that happen to you. The only clue that he might've had is that she hasn't really talked to him since before Christmas. Right before he came to Peru, one of their daughters died in a car crash. His wife was Catholic (probably MA), but started going to the Jehovah Witnesses church after that. When he was baptized, she told him that their marriage was invalid. (Catholicly yes, but civily no.) Well, now I guess she's living with a pastor from the Jehovah Winesses church. Not gonna lie, I've yet to have a positive experience with the Jehovah Witnesses. Mario seemed incredibly well put together for how tragic this is.
Saturday
I know that miracles are real. I know that they will come when we exercise faith. I have seen so many. I'm very grateful for them. There is a miracle in the works right now, we're just waiting and praying that it happens. In order to get married, Peru recently added a new law saying that in addition to all the other papers you already needed, now you need a health certificate too. Why? I don't know. There was a member doctor who said he'd sign it for us today or yesterday but he hasn't answered any of the dozen or so phone calls we've sent to him yesterday and today. I called every possible form of a doctor I know, but had no luck. The wedding is Monday. AH! I could really go for a miracle right now. Any who, we deep cleaned the apartment this morning in anticipation of a 70's room inspection. I might not have put blood or tears into it, but I made up for it with sweat and that weird blister juice: my knuckles got pretty raw from scrubbing the shower wall. Every one wanted to go to IHOP for lunch today, except I couldn't find my debit card where I always have it. I turned the place upside down looking for it. Then I said a prayer for help. Memories of various stories of finding lost items in a spot they'd already looked at a dozen times came to me. So I looking in my missionary handbook for the 3rd time and found it there. That was a nice milagro because I was starting to panic a lot bit. God is good. You can't tell me otherwise. (The IHOP was tasty by the way.) So word got out that Isabella (President's daughter) is going out with Elder Olsen (a missionary that went home about a year ago). I just thought that that was interesting. Today was Elder Armstrong's last office Pday, so we tried to go hard. We had a nice game of Risk. I don't know why, but Elder Napier is always on my team. In addition to that, we watched the movie Robots. It was a lot weirder than what I remember. It was still funny though. The joke of the week goes to Elder Pardo. I said something along the lines of "I'm gonna spank you so hard that you're not gonna be able to sit down for an hour." He said, "Well gosh, I guess that we'd have to go to the pótologo then." I died laughing because we were at the podóloga (podiatrist). (Potólogo would translate to "buttologist".)
Sunday
I really like a scripture story from Joshua 3. God tells everyone that they're going to cross a river. But to do so, they needed to be standing in the river before He parts it. For me, it's an amazing story of blind faith and committing to the Lord fully. Sometimes we will be called upon to have blind faith like them. I really like what Joshua tells them before hand: "Sanctify yourselves; for tomorrow the Lord will work wonders among you." We need to be worthy for these miracles to happen with our faith. In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen. Well, after another 6 phone calls, the doctor finally replied to my text message. He had said he'd get home this past Friday, but this morning he said that he wouldn't get back until the weekend. Welp, that was unfortunate news. Why couldn't you have told us that earlier? Ah! So we didn't know what to do about doctors. We got to church and the bishopric asked us if they should announce the wedding for tomorrow. We didn't know how we were going to get a doctor to sign the papers for us, nor how we were going to get the other half of the money. But ya know what they say: sometimes ya just gotta 'Joshua 3' it. So we told them to announce it. Gloria and Jeff both came to church today and had a great experience, so that's great. There was a family of 4 that wandered into church today, so that was super exciting. When we went to go visit them, I saw a model of a rocket shuttle, so I got excited. In the end though, they didn't really have a lot of interest in our message. Houston, that was a problem. We went to the park with Gloria and Jeff to have a good lesson about the word of wisdom and law of chastity. It was the first time in a while that I've had someone accept no coffee or tea with out having concerns or questions, so that was really cool. For lunch we ate with Hermana Karin, the Relief Society secretary. She's one of the most helpful people in the ward for us. While we were eating, I randomly asked if she knew any doctors. She did! What a miracle! We called him to set up an appointment for 9 PM. We were there with William and Rosa and Karin at 8:50 and called to confirm, but his wife answered and said that he had to leave to do an emergency C-section. Quack. Gotta keep that Sabbath day holy I guess. We rescheduled for tomorrow at 6:30 AM.
Monday
Mawage is wot bwings us togedah today. Mawage, that bwessed awangement, that dweam wifin a dweam....is what has been causing me insanely high amounts of stress his past week. I got up at 6:30 this morning like I always do, and sent Karin a text to see if she had gone to the doctor's appointment with William and Rosa. Well, apparently when she had called the doctor earlier to confirm it, his wife answered the phone and said that he left to go to work at 6:30. Dang it! He had told us that he'd do it at that time. Well, I wasn't about to call off this wedding. I had already called all the doctors I know--including the area doctors. I was sitting there brain storming and then thought, "Maybe Hermana Amato would know someone." So I called and explained the situation. She said, "Lo siento querido, no conozco de algan doctor que hace eso. Espera, President me dice que el 2º consejero del obispado en Cieneguilla es un doctor. Tal vez pueden llamar a él. (I'm sorry dear, I don't know of any doctor who does that. Wait, President tells me that the 2nd counselor of the bishopric in Cieneguilla is a doctor. Maybe they can call him.)" I thanked her and she said that they'd pray for us. I got the number from the Hermanas from Cieneguilla and gave the doctor a call, but I got no response. I got desperate enough that I even tried calling Melisalud, a nearby clinic (we never tried there before because it would take forever and it is $$$), but they didn't answer any of my calls. So I called the Cieneguilla dr (Leomar) again because I felt I should. He answered! He said that he'd love to help us out, but worked in Surquillo. I wasn't about to say no way Jose, so I hopped in a taxi and went all the way over there. He signed it. I almost couldn't believe it. So many doctors and I finally found one. He did it quick and for free too without me having to take William and Rosa. Plus we got it done just 8 hours before the deadline. Score! We got him (Ezquiel) all the papers that we needed on time. While struggling with this, I've thought, "Maybe it was meant to be post poned." Like, it wasn't a lack of faith, but I thought that maybe God wanted them married another day, but nope. Satan really fought us hard on this one: 50 years of living together, 4 months of teaching, Rosa's freak out, the partitdas de nocimiento (birth certificates), doctors, their bad health, etc. The wedding turned out really nice. They really enjoyed it. I think so at least--they were smiling, dancing and Rosa even did 3 pump fakes on her boquet toss. I could probably easily write a novel on this whole thing.
Tuesday
Let me tell you something: Jeffrey R Holland is definitely an apostle called of God. We got a huge head start on things. We left our room at 6 AM so that we could get there at 6:30 in Lima Tambo. (They told us to arrive from 8-8:30, but we wanted those front row seats.) We were the first ones there. In the past, they made us camp out until 7:30 or so, but today, a guy came out as soon as we got there to open up the gate for us. We plopped ourselves right there on the 5th row. (The Hermanas were on the first 4 rows.) We hung out until around 9 when they took us out to take photo as as a mission with Elder Holland (Tambo and North were there too). Jeffrey R Holland looks old in real life. He looked kind of tired and out of it as I saw him sit down and walk around. Then we all got to shake his hand as we walked back inside, so that was super cool. The Held's were there too, so they talked first. Then Sister Holland got up and really testified of the love that God has for us. Then Elder Holland slowly got up and walked to the pulpit. Holy cow, that man roared to life! He looked just like he does during general conference. He said, "I want it made known, that I AM NOT AN IDIOT!" and then started testifying on how the church is true. I felt like he looked right at me, which is really amazing for me because I was really wanting him to say that to me directly, and I feel like he did. Surprisingly, he talked almost nothing about missionary work, but mostly on post mission life. He told us that we're God's investigators and that we should act as we want our investigators to act. He really warned us against going less active. He briefly addressed faith crisis with the powerful question, "Do you WANT the gospel to be true?" There's not going back to the life we had before. We've received too much of the light of Christ. We're either going up or down. From there he started to testify of the Book of Mormon. He has such an incredible testimony! I aspire to have the conversion that he has. He's a very fiery speaker--the spirit was incredibly strong the entire time. "The very fact that it was translated in 65 days is enough to prove it's true! I've already spent 30+ hours on my 8 page not even done conference talk!" He finished by testifying of miracles. He said, "If you don't believe in modern day miracles, just look at Sister Holland. A few days ago she was in the hospital and the doctors told our kids not to come to visit because they wouldn't make it in time to see her alive. Well, look at her now. She just traveled to Lima with me!" That was the most powerful conference I've ever been to.
Outside of the conference:
Wednesday
There's a repeated theme that I've heard repeated recently: time on the mission flies by, so enjoy every second of it. Elder Holland encouraged us to serve out missions in a way that would make us reflect on it daily in a way that we could really testify about it. People ending their missions talked about it today in their final testimonies. Members have told me. I'm going to try and really focus in on my mission these last 5 months. It'll be hard, but I'll get it done. So I forgot to mention this, but Elder Armstrong left the office on Monday morning. He went off to proderas de pariachi. I kinda miss him, and not just because I like making fun of Texas.
Today we had the Gira Misional (mission tour) with Elder Gavarret. He's from Uruguay, so that's interesting. He's a very nice dude. He shook everyone's hand to start off the meeting. There were some really good trainings. From the assistants I learned about testifying more in contacts. It was a pretty good training. When I applied it while I was contacting at night, I really felt a difference. I mean, it only makes sense, right? Hermana Amato gave a really good training on the sacrament and it's importance to us. I really like it because that's one of the things that I feel like I need to improve on so that I can grow my testimony. It'll be good. I think that I need to study on it some more. Elder Gavarret testified a lot about the Book of Mormon. He told a cool story about how this one guy named William met Martin Harris, and L Tom Perry met William, and Elder Gaverret met L Tom Perry, and we met Elder Gavarret. Kinda cool the connection there. None of those Witnesses ever denied their testimony. One thing that I've noticed is that every time a 70 comes, they testify of the divine calling of the mission president. It was a nice conference. I left to contact tonight with Elder Colton. It was interesting. He's one of the guys that came from Lima Central. I don't know why, but I've had the biggest pain in my back today. I've been having small pains here and there recently, but today is was almost unbearable. I don't know why I'm having these pains either.
The despedida (farewell) at Hermana Karin's house for Elder Armstrong.
Today we had the Gira Misional (mission tour) with Elder Gavarret. He's from Uruguay, so that's interesting. He's a very nice dude. He shook everyone's hand to start off the meeting. There were some really good trainings. From the assistants I learned about testifying more in contacts. It was a pretty good training. When I applied it while I was contacting at night, I really felt a difference. I mean, it only makes sense, right? Hermana Amato gave a really good training on the sacrament and it's importance to us. I really like it because that's one of the things that I feel like I need to improve on so that I can grow my testimony. It'll be good. I think that I need to study on it some more. Elder Gavarret testified a lot about the Book of Mormon. He told a cool story about how this one guy named William met Martin Harris, and L Tom Perry met William, and Elder Gaverret met L Tom Perry, and we met Elder Gavarret. Kinda cool the connection there. None of those Witnesses ever denied their testimony. One thing that I've noticed is that every time a 70 comes, they testify of the divine calling of the mission president. It was a nice conference. I left to contact tonight with Elder Colton. It was interesting. He's one of the guys that came from Lima Central. I don't know why, but I've had the biggest pain in my back today. I've been having small pains here and there recently, but today is was almost unbearable. I don't know why I'm having these pains either.
My zone with Elder Gavarret.
Thursday
Today was part 2 of the mulitzone with Elder Gavarret, but I worked in the office instead. After he finished there, Elder Gavarret came to our office to do a short meeting with us. He didn't really roast us at all like I thought he was going to do. He kinda just gave us some advice to try and help us out. We had a cita with Jeff and Gloria tonight. We did the per-interview and it went extremely well. Jeff seemed better than he ever has before. He has a question or two about Joseph Smith and Gloria has a few about tithing (literally the widow's mite), but it seems to be ok with them. We also had a cita with William and Rosa. Elder Pardo thought it'd be a good idea to sing a hymn first, so we sang A Child's Prayer. It went really well. It really just turned into us testifying about hymns and how God always answers our prayers. My most prominent memory from primary is of Bro Christensen as my primary teacher. I remember very specifically as he began to sing A Child's Prayer (2 verses) in his deep voice. I don't think it's a coincidence that of all the things to remember from primary, it was that song. It was like a personal message from God to me. The spirit was very strong and I almost got choked up.
Elder Gavarret with the office Elders
President with me Me with the guy I trained, and the guy he trained, and the guy he trained.
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